Jimmy Fallon, Questlove, And How Prince Was Paying It Forward

As fans wait on the results of Prince’s autopsy, which was conducted immediately following his death last week before he was cremated, many celebrities have offered their tributes to the artist either through performances — as reported by the Inquisitr — or in the case of Questlove, in interviews, where stories about the legendary performer have been shared.

Questlove’s connection to Prince came through comedian Dave Chappelle, whose story about the famous basketball sketch he did on his Comedy Central show has been recalled many times through various interviews, but also provides some insight into what it’s like when they all hang out with each other behind the scenes, as seen in this interview with Chappelle on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, as they were getting around to talking about Kanye West.

As a matter of fact, one of Questlove’s stories about Prince regarding the Finding Nemo soundtrack was reported on by the Inquisitr since Prince’s death, which also talks about how the late-night bandleader was fired from the same gig the elusive entertainer had initially hired him for.

On Wednesday’s airing of NPR’s Fresh Air, in an interview with Questlove which had been recorded last Sunday, he talked about his time growing up and, when he wasn’t allowed to listen to any of Prince’s records, he had to buy copies several times because his parents kept throwing them away.

honor to do Fresh Air. An honor. https://t.co/uol3ta63D0

— No Check is the new Check (@questlove) April 27, 2016

The Inquisitr also reported on the death of Questlove’s father, who passed away in March and who also played a very influential role in his taste in music next to Prince. He was the lead singer of Lee Andrews & The Hearts, which is also covered in the interview.

The next day, however, during the recording of The Tonight Show, both Questlove and Fallon went over the story about being challenged to ping-pong by the legendary multi-instrumentalist.

In the interview with Fresh Air, Questlove elaborated more on his relationship with Prince, especially when he talked about the swear jar incident, which he apparently also wrote about in his book Mo’ Meta Blues.

Questlove reveals that at some point while they were at the Paisley Park studio, he cussed in front of Prince, who had him put 20 dollars in his swear jar. But “The Root” questioned how he could get him to put into a swear jar when he was the one who had taught him how to cuss when he was growing up in the first place?

Questlove then says that Prince might have been disturbed by that, and perhaps wondered if he had ruined an entire generation due to his influence, which caused the drummer to consider what the “purple one’s” legacy might be as a person, in hindsight.

“And I felt that with a lot of his secret philanthropy, and a lot of the Robin Hood stuff he was doing, I mean real deep political — saving schools, people to this day not knowing where this $3 million check came from, that was all him. I felt like maybe in the last 20 years of his life, he felt the need to overcompensate or pay forward what he feels that maybe he damaged some of us who grew up listening to his music.”

The interview also touches on Prince’s religious views, as he was rumored to be a Jehovah’s Witness, who reportedly also was known to go door-to-door in some cases to tell people about the faith and according to Questlove, even talked to The Roots and others who were in the studio one night for three hours, in what could only be referred to as preaching in the early hours of the morning.

The latest update on the investigation into Prince’s death, according to CNN, is that he had opioid medication on him at the time of death, and a warrant has been issued to search his home.

[Image by Maissoma via Flickr | CC BY-SA 2.0]